Hounded

Living with three strong-willed, highly individual Dachshunds can be equal parts entertaining, frustrating and rewarding. Just ask Matt Ziselman. Armed with a fresh, creative voice that is unabashedly cranky one moment and profoundly poignant the next, Ziselman mixes hilarious canine stories, with heartfelt reminiscences from his own life, the results of which is a memoir of illuminating life lessons, courtesy of the three thoroughly Teutonic Dachshunds that he shares his life (and couch) with: Baxter, Maya and Molly. Seemingly mundane moments, like Baxter's incessant, neuroses inducing staring, Maya's inexplicable refusal to walk through the front door and Molly's obsessive compulsive love for a torn and tattered blanket become, through Ziselman's insightful eyes, a treasure trove of observations that any dog-lover will appreciate. In a market where Americans spend more than $40 billion a year on their pets, this work of razor-sharp wit and quiet tenderness will reach out and grab readers everywhere by the heartstrings and-quite possibly-their leashes. HOUNDED wraps universal insights in hot-dog-shaped packages, providing true dog lovers with many knowing nods, honest belly laughs and an accurate, warts-and-all reflection of the fascination, wonder and love that they have for their dogs. And that Matt Ziselman obviously has for his.

“I think my wife might be right. I am going slightly mad.” Hounded is an escape from the anxiety of reaching a half-century, written during the pandemic of 2020 and into the spring of 2021, during which comedy writer Vince Stadon experienced every film, TV, audio drama, spoken word reading, documentary, stage play, pastiche, graphic novel, animation, kids cartoon, and PC game version of The Hound of the Baskervilles. A quirky, funny and unique memoir about Spectral Hounds, Consulting Detectives, panic attacks and way too many cats, Hounded is a bewildered middle-aged man’s silly odyssey through a binge experience of every conceivable version of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s celebrated novel. As the world darkens and he gleefully immerses himself in the fiction of the fog-drenched mystery, Vince Stadon undertakes a marathon of the most famous Sherlock Holmes story of them all; he makes deductions, adopts disguises, sends anonymous ‘Beware the moor’ letters to Canadians, steals footwear, learns Sherlock Holmes’s favoured martial art, and he tracks the Hound across the melancholy moor during those dark hours when the forces of evil are exalted. Along the way, Vince remembers his childhood, tries to understand his mysterious and troubled father, gets to grip with chronic anxiety, and strives to keep sane and calm during a pandemic. Written in tweets, poems, songs, extracts from proposed 80’s Hollywood blockbuster action films, prog rock lyrics, very silly stage plays, and far too many irrelevant and irreverent footnotes*, Hounded is the funniest book you’ll ever read about a bloody big ghost hound that’s dogged a man all his life. * A ridiculous number of footnotes.

Successful greyhound trainer and bumbling amateur sleuth, Kat McKinley, is at her wits’ end. And why not? Her gorgeous boyfriend, Ben, is racing his dogs interstate, her anti-everything hippie sister, Liz and ex-con boyfriend Scott are making whoopee in her guest room, and nine of Liz’s raucous protester friends have set up camp on her front lawn. So, when Helen McKinley, aka Attila the Hun, her mother, flies into town on her broomstick and lands on Kat’s doorstep intending to move in for two weeks, Kat’s life goes from disastrous to crazy ridiculous. Can things possibly get any worse? Absolutely. While Kat’s at the track, someone decides to snuff out one of the protesters on her front-lawn. Her mother inadvertently gets high on a potent cache of marijuana cookies. And after Tater the Chihuahua finds the protester’s body under a load of sand, the police arrest Kat’s mother on suspicion of murder. And it doesn’t stop there. When another protester washes up dead from the Port river and racing greyhounds are inexplicably getting sick and the vets can’t work out why – Kat decides it’s time to act. After all, she seems to be the only one interested in springing her mother out of jail. Trouble is – the more questions Kat asks – the more people seem to die.

“Sister” Jane Arnold, esteemed master of the Jefferson Hunt Club, has traveled to Kentucky for one of the biggest events of the season: the Mid-America Hound Show, where foxhounds, bassets, and beagles gather to strut their champion bloodline stuff. But the fun is squelched when immediately after the competition a contestant turns up dead–stripped to the waist and peppered with birdshot. Two weeks later, back in Virginia, a popular veterinarian dies from what appears to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Sister refuses to believe that her friend killed herself and vows to sniff out the truth. But before she can make real headway, a wealthy pet food manufacturer vanishes during the granddaddy of all canine exhibitions, the Virginia Hound Show. Ever reliant on her “horse sense,” Sister can’t help but connect the three incidents, and what she uncovers will make her blood run colder than the bodies that keep turning up in unexpected places.

Andy Carpenter isn't sure what to think when he gets a mysterious phone call from a good friend, policeman Pete Stanton, asking him to drop everything, drive to an unfamiliar address, and bring his girlfriend, Laurie Collins. He certainly isn't expecting to show up at a crime scene. But that's exactly where he arrives—at the house where Pete has just discovered the body of ex-convict Danny Diza. Upstairs are Danny's now orphaned eight-year-old son and basset hound. And that, Andy discovers, is why he and Laurie were called to the scene—Pete wants them to take care of the boy and the dog so they won't get thrown into the "system." This is already asking a lot, but soon Pete needs another big favor from Andy. Pete himself has come under suspicion for Danny's murder, and he needs defense attorney Andy to represent him...and to find out what really happened in Danny's house that day. David Rosenfelt has done it again. Told with his characteristic humor and wit, Hounded is at once a heartfelt story about family and a page-turning legal thriller.

In 1930's London, Dimmock is searching for Kiley, a criminal that is just as anxious to capture him, and has more evil resources to help with the job. Can anyone help Dimmock? Does he really have any friends? Action packed; this certainly is a "Thriller". From 'Stillwoods' rare book publishing Fully illustrated from the original publication. Stillwoods.Blogspot.Ca

A prominent dog-show judge falls victim to a hot-tub homicide in a mystery “absorbing enough to delight even cat lovers” (Publishers Weekly). As the dog days of summer turn to the playful nip of autumn’s chill, Melanie Travis is ready for a little relaxation. Her Aunt Peg has the perfect solution: a five-day symposium for dog show judges in Pennsylvania’s idyllic Pocono Mountains. While Peg and Melanie’s sister-in-law Bertie welcome the opportunity to socialize with the dog world’s elite, the very pregnant Melanie embraces the chance to simply unwind. But when renowned judge Charles Evans delivers a keynote address that irritates many of the attendees, the symposium’s agenda takes a deadly turn. For later that evening, Charles is found floating facedown in the outdoor hot tub. With few clues to go on, the police are baffled. But Melanie decides to take matters into her own hands, suspecting that a cold-blooded murderer may lurk among her fellow dog lovers... “[An] always charming and clever series.”—Earlene Fowler, Agatha Award-winning author of the Benni Harper Mysteries

Sabrina's animal communications professor, Dr. Cartwright, brings his dog, Baskerville, to class for a demonstration, Sabrina starts sneezing a sparkling, fizzing sneeze, which causes Dr. Cartwright and Baskerville to switch bodies--and Sabrina has no idea how to switch them back.